Archived Opinion

Letter writer should follow her own advice

To the Editor:

A recent area letter writer cautioned us to dig for truth and find facts before we go to the polls.

What wonderful advice. However, she should have taken her own counsel and stopped immediately at the end of her first paragraph while she was still ahead!

She immediately went on to name George Soros as singularly responsible for everything wrong in our “system,” then repeated old misinformation, twisted history and outright lies that have been disproven numerous times by researchers from several verifiable sources. Secondly, she asserts that Mr. Soros and the United Nations have dark plans and alludes to conspiracies for our future. (I’m not particularly defending this man, but find this an example of relentlessly unreliable “fact-finding.”)

It’s interesting to note that her type of “patriot” always references only Mr. Soros — and his “millions” — as The Person (just one man?) responsible for current American economic problems, political failures and “restraining freedoms.” These patriots not only willfully discount history from the 1970s forward, but apparently have never heard of the many proven politically manipulative billionaires; Karl Rove, Dick Armey, Roger Ailes, Sheldon Adelson, The Koch Brothers, North Carolina’s own Art Pope, Wall Street gamblers, Corporate CEOs, their PACs and super PAC’s, and their persuasive shills, just to name a few.

The lady continued her rant, blamed Harry Reid and “cronies” for not passing a budget, and further vilified the President and his administration for the problems of our country, including the price of gas, which is, in fact, determined by outside factors and not the administration!  She has not dug deep enough to find the multiple aborted bills that could have benefited our economy and the numerous attempts to support the well being of “we the people” these past years. All those were deliberately slowed, blocked, voted down, or just filibustered for no reason except their man wasn’t in the White House.

She claims our leader doesn’t believe in our Constitution, flag, God, values, and freedoms. It seems the “leader” she so heartily disapproves is not up to her personal par on “truth, justice and the American way,” and one can only guess that she’s also disappointed he can’t  leap tall buildings in a single bound.  

Her charge that we “get educated,” “look for facts,” and “research” is correct. It’s a shame she didn’t learn her own lesson.     

I question her recommended choice to “Google.” It’s multiple list option does not necessarily lead to reliable “fact” finding!

Therefore, as she requested we all should do, I expect her to take her own challenge to find better resources than the ones she presently thinks are giving her truth. I will be happy to meet her at our local library, take her hand and lead her out of the children’s fairy tale and fiction area, to the stacks where all we grown ups can find and read current events (all of them), true national and world history, geography of our country and the world, the multiple sciences, many tomes on religion, and find verifiable information documented from reliable sources on subjects too numerous to list. While there we can also research our national documents, including our actual Constitution, all its debated considerations, including what was discarded, why, and what was retained in, or added as amendments to, the ultimate document. If necessary I’ll be happy to explain all words over two syllables.

 Shirl Ches

 Franklin

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